Trace-holder.



PATENTED' DEC. 18, 1906.

G. LAUBE.

TRACE HOLDER. APPLICATION IIL'ED APR. 4. 1906.

UNITED STATES Parana enrich- GODFRIED LAUBE, OF SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO ALBERT VANDENBURG, OF HURON, SOUTH DAKOTA.

TRACE-=HOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 18, 1906.

Application filed April 4;, 1906. Serial No. 309,848.

To atZZ whom, it ntcty concern.-

Be it known that I, GODFRIED LAUBE, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Santa Monica, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trace-Holders, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in trace-holders for swingletrees or whiffletrees; and the invention has for its primary object the provision of novel means for temporarily and firmly holding the end of a trace or tug in engagement with the end of a sndngletree.

To this end my invention means to provide a simple and effective trace-holder which can be easily and quickly operated to lock the end of a trace or tug upon the end of a swingletree.

My improved trace-holder is applicable to both ends of a swingletree and is adapted to form a lock for holding a trace or tug upon either end of a swingletree. The locking feature of the trace-holder prevents a trace or tug from becoming displaced or detached from the end of a swingletree, said lock being easily and quickly manipulated to retain a trace or tug upon the end of a swingletree.

My invention further resides in the novel construction which will be hereinafter more fully described and then claimed, and, referring to the drawings accompanying this application, like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, in which- Figure 1 is a plan of one end of a swingletree equipped with my improved traceholder. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, partly in section; and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of my improved trace-holder, illustrating the operation of placing the end of a trace or tug upon the end of a swingletree.

To put my invention into practice, I pro vide the end of a swingletree 1 with a triangularshaped plate 2, said plate being secured to the top face of the swingletree by screws 3 3 or similar fastening means. The plate 2 adjacent to its contracted end is provided with the opening 4, registering with a vertically-disposed opening 5, formed in the end of the swingletree 1. The opposite end of the plate 2 is provided with two lugs or-protuberances 6 6, the object of which will hereinafter-appear.

The trace -holder is constructed of one piece of wire or metal which is bent to form a substantially rectangular loop 7, while the one end of said wire is provided with an eyelet 8. The opposite end 9 of the piece of wire from which the trace-holder is formed is bent downwardly to pass through the opening 4 of the plate 2 and the opening 5 of the swingletree, the extreme endof the wire passing through the eyelet 8 and being bent at right angles, as at 10, thereby looking the trace-holder upon the swingletree 1.

The end of the wire 9 that lies in engagement with the plate 2 is provided with a depression 11, said depression tending to hold the ends of the wire 9 upon the plate 2, the object of which will be hereinafter described. I In placing the slotted end of a trace or tug 12 upon the end of a swingletree the traceholder is swung outwardly to permit of the end of the trace being passed through the loop 7, at which time the end of the trace or tug is placed over the end of the swingletree. The loop 7 of the trace-holder is then swung inwardly until said loop approximately engages the edge of the swingletree. This operation causes the end 9 of the trace-holder to ride over one of the lugs 6, the end 9 of the trace-holder being sprung to overcome the lug 6, and in this connection the depression 11 causes the end 9 of the trace-holder to positively engage the plate 2 between one of the screws 3 and one of the lugs 6, thereby retaining the loop 7 in engagement with the trace or tug and the end of the swingletree.

From the foregoing it will be observed that the operation of securing a trace or tug upon the end of a swingletree is extremely simple, requiring no skill whatever and very little time.

I do not care to confine myself to the material from which the trace-holder is made or to the detail construction thereof, as such changes as are permissible by the appended claim may be resorted to without departing from the scope of the invention.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim is In a trace-holder, the combination with a swingletree, of a plate secured to'the upper face of the swingletree and having lugs on its In testimony whereof I affix my signature upper face, and a loop formed from a single in the presence of two Witnesses. pieceof metal having one end passed through the plate and the swingletree and fastened GODFRIED LAUBE' 5 to the other end, the outer end of said loop Witnesses:

adapted to receive the trace, and one arm of HATTIE R. LAUBE,

the loop engaging the plate between said lugs. GROVER C. G. LAUBE. 

